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(No Model.)

M. E. BENJAIVIIN -GONG AND SIGNAL CHAIR P08 HOTELS, 880.

No. 888,289. Patented July 17, 1888.

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N. PETERS, Phmn-Lmmgnpmf. washington, n()

UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCE.

MIRIAM E. BENJAMIN, OF IVASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

GONG AND SIGNAL CHAIR FOR HOTELS, 80C.

SPECIFICATION forming pari: of Letters Patent No. 386,289, dated July17, 1888.

Application lcd October 1, 1887. Serial No. 251.180.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MIRIAM. E. BENJAMIN, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Gong and Signal Chairsfor Hotels, Restaurants, Steamboats, Railroad- Trains, te., of which thefollowing is a speciication, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawings.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in gong andsignal chairs 7 to be used in dining-rooms, in hotels,restaurants,steamboats, railroad-trains, theaters, the hall of theCongress of the United States, the halls of the legislatures of thevarious States, for the use of all deliberative bodies, and for the useof invalids in hospitals; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesaine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a partthereof, in which-- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the appliance on achair. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the appliance, showing alengthwise section of the signal; and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of amodification of the appliance on the back of a chair.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts in thedifferent gures of the drawings.

The object of my invention is to reduce the expenses of hotels, Src., bydecreasing the number of waiters and attendants,'to add to theconvenience and comfort of guests, Sto., and to obviate the necessity ofhand-clapping or calling aloud to obtain the services of pages, Ste., inCongress, the various legislativoe bodies, deliberative assemblies,stores, Snc.

Under the present system vin hotels, 8mo., it is customary to have onewaiter in attendance upon, say, three or four guests, so as to promptlyascertain and supply their Wants, which is no inconsiderable portion ofthe expense of hotel-keeping. The use of my invention will obviate thenecessity of employing more than one waiter to twelve or fteen guests,who will not be required to call aloud (No model.)

for waiter, or to rap on the table, so as to attract the waitersattention. All of these aunoyances and attendant expenses will beobviated by the employment of my invention, it only being necessary forthe guest to touch a button, when instantly a signal appears upon theback of his chair, thus notifying the waiter that his presence isdesired.

My invention consists in the combination of a horizontal rod attached toa vertical rod by a' hinge and fastened to the bottom ofavchair by beingpivoted upon a bridge with a gong at one end of it, and in the upper endof the Vertical rod being attached to a crank, which turns a shorthorizontal rod which extends along the top of the back of the chair,forming an axle for a ball, which rests upon an outwardlycurved hook inthe slot on the inside of it, which throws it forward when the knob ofthe gong is pushed downward, displaying a red signal (one side of theball) when the gong is sounded.

The appliance is formed by the vertical rod of a gong, b, with a knob atits upper end and its lower end attached to the horizontal rod c, therod c resting on the bridge c and connected to the vertical rod d by ahinge. The rod d isjoined to the crank e, and the crank e to thehorizontal rod f, with the ball (or signal) g resting on the rod f,having the hook j" resting against the stop g, the appliance beingplaced upon the chair so that the rod d comes a little to the right ofthe center of the back of the chair, and the rod c passing under thechair from the lower end of the rod d to the gong b, the gong beingattached to theside of the chair. rlhe rod f is fastened to the top ofthe back of the chair supporting the ball, (or signal,) which is incasedin a metal plate with an opening, which allows the signal or red side tobe seen through it when in use.

When an attendant is wanted,press upon the button et and the verticalrod in the gong will press downward upon the end of the rod c directlyunder it, causing the other end of rod c to be raised, which in turnlifts the rod d, and this rod in turn acts upon the crank e, which turnsthe rod f,so that the ball g,resting upon the hook f, (with its darkside displayed,) will be thrown forward, turning the dark sur- IOO faceunder and a red surface outward, thus displaying the signal at the soundof the gong. After the want is supplied the signal is replaced by theattendant, who lifts the appendage, now at the bottom of the ball,upward to the opening in the upper part of the plate h, in which itrests, turning the dark surface of the ball outward in readiness for thenext signal.

rlhe modification of the appliance in Fig. 3 shows thesignal operated ina simpler manner, in which the main portion of the appliance remainsunchanged, while the ball g revolves upon a simple rod attached to thetop of the back ofthe chair7 and the upper end of the rod d restsdirectly u nder a projecting appendage attached to the surface of theball g. \Vhen the appliance is pnt in motion in the manner beforedescribed, the rod d pushes the appendage upward, which causes the ballto turn,displaying` the red surface, which remains displayed untilreplaced by the attendant.

My appliance can be used on revolving chairs as well as on stationarychairs, and the signal can be used to be seen on the front of chairs aswell as on the back. I propose to use the within described signal ondesks, counters, &c., as well as on chairs; and by lengthening thevertical rod of the appliance the signal may be elevated to any height.By placing the horizontal rod near the Hoor the appliance may beoperated with the foot.

I do not confine myself to any particular method of displaying mysignals, as any means may be resorted to for that purpose, either byordinary mechanical devices or by other 35' methods; but

Vhat I distinctly claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent. is-

l. A signal to be displayed on the backs of chairs and the like,consisting of a gong seto cured to the seat of a chair and within reachof the hand, and having a rod passing therethrough for sounding analarm, the prolongation of said rod being pivotally attached to a leverfulcrumed on said seat, the opposite end of said lever being attached toa verticallyoperating connecting-rod to actuate the same and through ita rock-shaft attached to the chair-back, and upon which is secured asignaling device which may be elevated or depressed at will by means ofthe mechanism herein set forth.

2. A signaling device of the character described, consisting of a gongattached to the seat of a chair and having its sounding-rod 5 extendedto connect with one arm of the lever c, pivotally secured to the bottomof said chair, and the vertically-reciproeati ng counecting-rod d,having its lower end attached to the outer end of said lever and itsupper end attached to the rock-shaft cf, located on the back oftheehairto actuatea signaling device secnred thereto.

MIRIAM E. BENJAMIN.

\Vi tn esses:

JAS. G. Woon, HENRY E. BAKER.

